The Most Important Cities In The World

London is the most important city in the world for the rich, according to the latest Wealth Report from real estate consulting firm Knight Frank. But it won’t hold onto its title for long.

According to the report, New York is set to overtake London as the top city for the wealthy in the next decade. And Asian cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai will also become more important over the next 10 years.

Knight Frank determined its eighth-annual “global cities” ranking based on four factors: economic activity, political power, quality of life, and influence and power. It also took into account each city’s population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those with $US30 million or more in net assets, excluding their primary residence), and responses from an attitude survey of wealth advisors around the world.

“Our results suggest that by 2024 New York should surpass London as its share of the world’s UHNWIs rises and the city becomes increasingly important to Chinese, Russian and even European UHNWIs,” the Knight Frank report concludes.

The chart below shows which cities were most important last year and this year, and the forecasted ranking for 2024.

The report also notes an impending “power struggle” among Asia’s top cities. “One of the key differences, however, between Asia and Europe and North America is Asia’s lack of a single dominant city,” the report says. “This is why we are now seeing the power struggle … with Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and even Beijing all contenders for the title of future leading Asian city.”

Hong Kong will eventually overtake Singapore because “the dominance of China is unavoidable and Hong Kong’s unofficial role as the portal between its big brother and the rest of the world will ensure the growing dominance of the city over the next decade,” Knight Frank concludes.

Knight Frank also identified the five most important cities in each region of the globe, as well as five future “hotspots.” Sao Paulo leads the “hotspot” ranking, as its population of ultra-wealthy individuals is set to rise in the next decade.